Vintage ads from bygone eras

Sunday night, I got home from a day-long trip to Brooklyn (and Queens), and as I write this, I’m too exhausted to put together a proper post. I’m also still recovering from car sicknesses. In place of a normal post, I thought I’d showcase some of the vintage ads I’ve virtually collected.

How much a word’s most popular, common meaning and usage can change over time!

How could so many doctors in different countries be wrong?

That’s not how weight loss works!

I love smoking hookah, though it’s not something I do on any sort of regular basis. Smoking cigarettes as an asthmatic is out of the question!

What won’t they cure?

Wonder what these people thought constituted “senile agitation.”

I doubt I would’ve touched Spork or Speef even before I went kosher or vegetarian!

There goes the fun and satisfaction of barbecuing.

It made sense in the era before almost everyone had modern refrigeration.

Doctors recommended women douche with Lysol for birth control and hygiene for decades.

Dude, your definition of suffering doesn’t even come close to what I’ve gone through with dysmenorrhea for 23 years! Sympathy with others’ pain isn’t the same as going through exactly what they do.

Do you enjoy collecting and/or seeing vintage ads? Do you have a favorite category? Do you find some of these old ads’ claims to be more funny or shocking?

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7 comments on “Vintage ads from bygone eras”

These are great! It’s almost amazing that people would have fallen for things like “obesity soap”–oh, if losing weight were so easy! And cocaine and laudanum–must have been some whacked out folks back then.

The “asthma cigarettes” probably contained small amounts of Datura stramonium leaves – this poisonous herb contains scopolamine, hyoscyamine and atropine, alkaloids that dilate the bronchi. (Asthma cigarettes made with Datura leaves were available commercially in Poland in the 1950s; the brand was called “Astmosan”.)

My other blog, Onomastics Outside the Box

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Writer of 20th century historical fiction sagas and series, with elements of women's fiction, romance, and Bildungsroman. I was born in the wrong generation on several fronts. I'm crunchy within reason, predominantly left-handed, and an aspiring hyper polyglot. Oh, and I've been a passionate Russophile for over 20 years, as well as a passionate Estophile, Armenophile, Magyarphile, Kartvelophile, Persophile, Slavophile, and Nipponophile.

For the climax of my contemporary historical WIP, I'd love to talk to any Duranies who went to the 13 March 1984 Sing Blue Silver show in Hartford, CT. I'd be so grateful to have first-person sources provide any information about what that snowstorm and concert were like!

I usually post on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays. ALL SATURDAY POSTS ARE PRE-SCHEDULED. I NEVER POST IN REAL TIME ON SHABBOS.